Far Away
by LimeLightLover
Summary: Takes place After Eclips, on the eve of their wedding what events could happen to upset the balance of what world Bella and Edward had planned for themselves? I do not own the characters, that is left to Stephanie Meyer, Song references owned to Nicklebac
1. Regrets

This time, This place

_This time, This place  
Misused, Mistakes  
Too long, Too late  
Who was I to make you wait  
_

Edward trailed his cold fingers down the radiating heat of his sleeping love, his very own Isabella Swan, the sleeping girl's skin on her arm reacting to his touch in a light show of goosebumps. It was a nondescript summer night, which had followed an average nondescript summer day. With the threat of Victoria behind them, and only the fretting Bella put up about the forthcoming wedding as a distraction, life had become complacent and pleasant. It had been two months since life had found order, two months since Bella and he had announced to Charlie about their intention to be wed by the end of summer, two months since Bella had confirmed herself to waiting until they were married to do all the things she had been so instant towards the whole year hence—she wanted to wait now to consummate their marriage, for them to make love for the first time as husband and wife, as well as wait to become one of the living dead, the soulless creatures that he and the rest of the Cullen clan was, to become a vampire. Time was running short until that day would come, a few days hence in fact.

The sound of Bella uttering something along the lines of "That dress is too poufy" made a smile tug at the corners of Edwards lips. A wedding dream… or nightmare rather, Edward assumed as she tossed lightly before settling down and falling back into a sound sleep, her breath coming in warm delicious, even breaths. Her sent was intoxicating and made him, in a grand way, wish that he had been of less morals, and that in their meadow a week ago, Bella hadn't decided to stop him from taking her and physically expressing his love to her in all the ways she had constantly tested him and begged him to do up until then. Thinking back on that day he sighed leaning back against the bed post of Bella's bed, resting his head back against the wooden grain. He had come to such clarity after that battle shared with the Wolfs, clarity about so many things, mainly about how controlling he had been over Bella. He had moved her about and configured himself to try and fit what he thought was best for her and her safety.

An almost ungraceful snort left him at the irony in that. Everything he had done to protect her had more often than not led her to the very hands of danger. Edward knew his biggest mistake in life… well more precise, in his existence, was leaving Bella after the birthday fiasco. It still plagued him how devastated and broken he had left her, it happened less now than it had before, but memories would surface in peoples minds, Charlie's mainly, about what Bella had suffered in his absence—because of his absence. She had become a zombie, for lack of a better comparison, some one on auto-pilot; she lived as a vacant shell, devoid of animation and life.

A grimace crossed the handsome features of the pale young man, his golden eyes closing briefly in the wake of such guilt and inner pain. Even with out a heart, his chest still clenched in that 'heart wrenching' pain that was grief over harming his love. He had driven the strongest willed woman he knew into quiet submission of loss and defeat, into what would be defined as insanity—Bella risking her neck in feats of reckless danger just to hear her hallucination of his voice. As much as he hated to think it, to admit it to himself, Jacob Black had more than helped her he had saved her and kept her alive.

Heh. Jabob Black. A name that would forever be an oxymoron in his dictionary; he both loathed the damn flee bitten mongrel, but also held him exultation for being Bella's savoir when he himself had come close to destroying her. She loved him, Bella loved Jacob. How could she not, he had mended her and pieced her back when Edward had so swiftly broken her into a million of pieces, all in an attempt to help her—keep her safe. God, how could he so often be so wrong?

Looking down at the sleeping form of his love… he would say soul mates, but he did not have a soul—no Jacob was Bella's soul mate, what she was to Edward was something much stronger and more unnatural than the worlds use of soul mates. Jacob had been everything normal and human, constant in Bella's life... the natural path her life would have taken had he not existed in her world. Jacob was like Bella's sun, warm bright, a life force that will always be consistent, rising and setting as God intended it. But Edward, yes Edward was unnatural and rare and cold, white and distant like the moon. When their paths cross, Edward and Jacob's, it's as if the moon and the sun on their rare occasion cross, causing an eclipse.

As much as Edward had opted and wanted Bella to try for a normal life, he was immensely grateful for Bella having chosen him over Jake; things could have so easily turned out different. But here she lay, safe, in his arms, his very own Bella. The urge to touch her swept through him, and indulging he laid out beside her wrapping an arm around her waist and laying his body along the line of her back. The sent of her hair, a strawberry sent mixed with the sweet smell of pure Bella tickled his nose and he inhaled deeply, leaning over to place a soft kiss to her warm cheek.

How blessed he was, and he knew it to the very fiber of his being. "Who was I to make you wait?" he whispered into the brunet strands of her hair. He had forced her to wait on him time and time again; he made her wait to reveal his secrets, wait to confess his love, wait on him to hopefully return, wait for him to make love to her. She had been patient given the circumstances, despite her verbal show of impatiens she put up with him. Edward knew he would never be able to heal what he broke completely, she would always carry that scar, would always have that place where Jake stitched together her broken heart, leaving his mark on her forever.

Little did Edward know that this placid way of living was soon to be disturbed and their world turned upside down.


	2. Homecomings and Goodbyes

_Just One chance, just one breath_

_Just in case there's just one left_

'_Cause you know, _

_You know, you know_

Jacob Black felt a sweep of mixed emotions flow through him as the boarder between Canada and the United States came into visual distance. In a short hour or so he would be back. He had been gone for two weeks now, or at least he thought it was around that amount of time. Being in his lycanthrope form since running away had let him leave behind some of the human anguishes that come of loss, that all consuming grief that physically deals out blow after blow, a constant painful slow torture as time ticks by when feeling as if your heart is perpetually being ripped apart, and your entire being is falling to pieces. Over the weeks it had become easier to bear, easier to deal with, that loss… the resignation to defeat. He knew that in a few days time Bella Swan would no longer hold that same name, she would be Isabella Marie Cullen, and along with that name would be the loss of her life, of her precious pulse.

He had planned to keep to himself still for some time, but as the date drew closer, that damn date, to the wedding that he had so _graciously_ been invited to by the blood sucker, by Bella's soon to be husband, he had reconsidered going back. The thought of Edward made him growl deep in his throat and bare his teeth, hackles raised. That damn leech was taking her away in the fullest of senses. At least, Jake thought in a calming thought, at least she had finally admitted and realized that she loved him; Bella loved Jake, but as Jake had so elegantly put it- the sun was no match for an eclipse.

Still as the days dragged forward and his grief lessened, he felt anxious to be home, to be with the familiar sights and scents, to run with his pack… and to see her again, if only for one last time. It wouldn't be easy, and he still was devoutly against going to their wedding, he felt he had to see his best friend and love one last time, before she became another person in name and in physical meaning.

The journey home passed with little notice, as he recalled memories, and reveled in his connection to the earth and to life as he sped through the dense mountainous forests of upper Washington, making his way south west in the state to reach home, to reach her. It was around four in the morning when he scented the familiar smells of Forks, he headed towards La Push, not wishing to recount and dredge up all the memories he held of Forks. The smell of the sea and of his pack was strong on the eastward blowing winds, it was bittersweet. He knew his father wouldn't be angry with him for running off; Billy Black had been there the day he decided to leave, the day he got the wedding invitation.

That memory a week ago would have made him cringe, but now it was just a hollowed feeling within his chest that he carried around. It was a fact he couldn't change, they had fought for her love, they had both won, but in the end Jake just wasn't enough. It was unhealthy, what she and Edward had, and he had said as much to her the last time she and he spoke, the first and last time that she had told him she loved him. Again it was bittersweet, almost tangibly so, like a taste in the mouth that one would have to swallow down with slight difficulty before smacking ones lips to further push away that taste.

It took a longer pause in thought to shift back to his human form after having been in wolf mode for so long. It was amazing how contrasting the two forms were, yet also in such great harmony. Both forms were Jake, but in his wolf form he lived with the more primal needs and sense, all of which were heightened, and in that form he felt a connection to the pull and pulse of the earth. When human, Jake was lead as most humans, if not all, by conflicting emotional need; this was staggering seeing as his emotional need, the need to see and be with Bella, had not yet been met, but rather denied. Nude, but with no care since he was home as well as it being a pitch black night, he made his way through the streets of La Push to the familiar place called home. Pushing open the old door he entered, greeted by the familiar smell of slightly musty couches, and fried fish. He couldn't help but smile. He went to his room and grabbed a pair of shorts pulling the clothing on.

A groggy voice called from down the hall "Jake?" came the familiar sound of his father's voice from the back bedroom.

"Yeah Dad." He replied going to join the man so he wouldn't have to get out of bed and into the wheelchair. Entering the room he didn't flip on the light switch, but let it remain dark, not wanting to talk right now. "I'm back, I think I'll go hit the shower and then to bed." He said as if he hadn't been gone for half a month.

His father answered back with a grunt, and before his son shut the door back grumbled a "Glad you're home kid."

--

Bella blanched as she was pricked, yet again by Alice, who was making sure, for the tenth time, that the hem had been taken up just perfectly so that her vision of Bella tripping over it while walking down the alter would change. Evidently, from the delighted squeal that came from the pixie like woman, her vision had changed to her liking. "May I get down now?" Bella grumbled hating being up on a pedestal… literally, she was positioned atop a cream colored push pedestal that was located in Alice and Jasper's room, while Alice had fixed the hem.

"Yes, yes. Your trip down the aisle is now trip free!" she exclaimed giggling at her 'clever' use of words.

Bella now only had three days to go until the nerve racking day of saying her nuptials. She did have to admit, that while she wanted the whole ordeal over, it had turned out to be a lovely affair placed together at the talented hands of her soon to be sister-in-law. Undressing from the old-fashioned, but elegant white gown she was to wear upon her wedding day she changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Feeling a bit on the claustrophobic side, a feeling that she had come accustomed to feeling in the past week she paced the room, agitatedly playing with the bracelet on her wrist, the two charms bouncing with her movement, the cool of the heart slapping against her skin at times, and the warmth of the wood rubbing against her with each sweeping touch.

"Bella, perhaps you should go see Angela for a few hours… spend some time with your friends?" suggested Alice. Bella would have protested usually wanting to see Edward, but since he was out at the moment… not to mention millions of miles away in Europe for the day getting his suit retailored to perfection, it was an impossibility. Begrudgingly Bella agreed, knowing that being out of the house, filled with its boxes of wedding gifts, and decoratives, wasn't helping the situation in the least.

Bella soon was on her way away from the Cullen house in her new car that Edward had so stubbornly gotten for her, her much beloved Truck now resting some where in peace…or rather pieces since she highly doubted anyone would try and repair the thing. Trying to keep herself at the speed limit in the v8 as it jerked forward trying to reach its acclaimed 0-60 in under 4.5 seconds. The sound of her cell phone buzzing, since she had left it on vibrate in the cup holder, made her effort to slow down even more demanding as she flipped open the tiny black cellular and placed it to her ear "I'm behaving" she muttered, knowing that it had to be either Edward or Alice calling, and they would no doubt want to make sure she wasn't in any form of danger.

The returning voice wasn't one she was expecting however. The familiar low voice that held a hint of a rasp to it, the voice of Jake greeted her warily with a "Hey Bells."

She froze swerving the car into the opposite lane of traffic, winch luckily for her was empty, until her senses came to in an instant and she brought the overzealous care back to heal in its proper lane.

"Jake?! Where… Where are you? Are you ok?" she asked fervently into the tiny phone.

A chuckle sounded out the ear piece "Yeah, I'm alright. Come to La Push?"

She took less than a second to think it over before replying "Be there in a second." Clicking shut the phone. Her uneasiness about speeding melted away as she made her way towards the Indian reservation, a million questions flowing through her mind, but the most jubilant loud statement of all was that Jake was ok and was back, past that, and the repercussions of that had yet to sink in, all she knew was that her best friend was home.

--

Jake shifted his weight from one leg to the other nervously as he waited for the familiar sound of Bella's old truck to pull around the corner of his street. He had gotten the cell phone number from Embry, who had gotten it some time right after Jake had run off. He had thought up a million things to say to Bella when she arrived, but at the moment all of that escaped him, why was he doing this to himself? Was he really a masochist? Seeing her would only inflict pain… but he had to see her again, one last time, before she was no longer herself, before she would be come his enemy, dead to him.

The sound of a revved engine coming around the corner made him frown, who around here owned that ride? It had just gotten released overseas, it was definitely one hell of a car… but what was it doing here? And just at that moment the slick car slowed to a stop in front of him by the curb and shut off. The door flew open and out stepped a breath of life, Bella.

He couldn't help but drink her in, a smile spreading across his features. She looked healthy and well, defiantly still had a pulse. Before he could get any form of a greeting out, thin little arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace, had he not been abnormally muscled and strong it might have given him pause to gasp for lack of air. Instead he looked down at her with a chuckle.

"Miss me much?"

Bella pulled away, and just as quick as she had gone from elated she went to dangerously pissed. Thumping him on the chest with her fist a few good times she ranted.

"Jacob Black how could you just up and leave like that?! I was worried, and poor Charlie who doesn't know that you can go all wolf was going out of his mind! You selfish jerk!"

Catching up her hands in mild amusement, thought fighting to hold in laughter, since he was positive that would only set her off more, he held her back some with a small smile. "I'm sorry, and I missed you Bells." It was a vast understatement, but he didn't want to ruin the moment with awkwardness. For right now, he just needed things to be normal, which was a constant unrealized goal in his world more often then not.

Her face softened and he watched her roll her eyes "Yeah well you wouldn't have to apologize if you hadn't just run off." She muttered, the flame of anger gone, now only light banter left in the wake.

Releasing her hands, though he hadn't wanted to, he took a step back. "Lets go for a walk." He said starting to turn and take off without a real answer from her. It took a few seconds but eventually the sound of hurried footsteps met his ears as she slapped against the sidewalks concrete to catch up to his long strides. Luckily no on e was really out and about at the moment, a fact he was grateful for so that he didn't have to endure homecomings from his non-pack friends and their families. He lead her on to the beach, neither talking, both lost with in thought.

With a wry smile he lead her up to the spot that they first had a conversation, the one where he told her a ghost story, hoping to both impress and frighten, if only then he knew that that story would grow into a living nightmare… Abruptly he turned to Bella causing her to bump into him, clumsy as ever.

"Your getting married." He stated calmly

He watched her drag her eyes up to meet his, her fingers twisting at the bracelet that dangled on her wrist, with the familiar charm he had made for her of a wolf. The charm was joined on the gleaming silver bracelet by a heart shaped bobble that looked to be glass—something that large couldn't be a diamond. She nodded in response.

"And you are becoming one of them."

Again a nod. He opened his mouth but shut it, what was there to say? He knew he couldn't change a God damn thing. Sitting down on a large but smoothed bolder he rested his arms on his knees, long hair failing down and framing his face. He noticed her sit too, but his gaze stayed level on the ground.

"Jake." Came the soft voice of Bella. "I don't know what to say. I have to, He will be my husband, I can't allow myself to die and him to live, not when we are offered an eternity together." She stated gently.

"I know." He muttered. All that she said were things he had been thinking about trying to come to terms with. "I… I didn't want to see you to yell or fight, to try and change your mind or anything. I just… I wanted to see you one finale time, before you… before you're gone, before you breathe your last breath."

She moved so that her head lay against his knee, her arm holding to his leg. "I understand." She murmured.

Jake wasn't sure just how long they stayed like that, at some point his hand found its way into her hair and began stroking through the glossiness, but they remained basically motionless and still, at a unique sort of peace, a calm goodbye.

"He invited me to the wedding." Jake said, his voice laced with irony. The brunette at his knee looked up with apparent shock, eyes wide.

"Edward invited you to the wedding?"

Jake nodded looking down at her. "That's when I left. I just had to have time alone, to think… to grieve. It really is over." He sighed leaning down and placing a gentle kiss to her forehead. He could tell she didn't know what to say, so she settled on holding his leg tighter pressing her face against his knee, like a child holding to a teddy bear on a dark rainy night.

Day faded to evening and they remained silent each just touching in the most causal ways. Eventually Jake took her hands and untangled them from about his leg and pulled her up with him into a standing position. The ocean looked lovely as the sun in its gown of orange and red began to set beyond the horizon. Jake pulled her into a gentle hug his nose buried in her hair. "Goodbye Isabella Swan." He muttered into her hair, taking in her scent for memories sake. "Goodbye Bells."

She for once didn't protest the chosen rout, for once didn't proclaim alternatives that would never work despite her best intentions, instead she hugged him back and whispered "Goodbye Jake."

He saw her to her car, hand in hand. As she got into the very stylish new car, the one that was so blatantly different from her old truck, the car belonging to her new life, he sighed. She was no longer his, this would be the last time he would see her, the last time she still in some form or fashion would belong to him. The taillights pulled away, a streak of red turning the corner, until even the sound of the car was gone.

Could he predict what would come to happen in the next few days he would have spent more time with her, he would have had the courage to say the words once again to her of his love. Had he known, his goodbye might have been in a different state and tone.

--

Hope you guys enjoyed! Sorry it took so long to post up! R&R!


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